BARRIE, ON – Forests Canada recently added three new members to its Board of Directors: Mary-Ellen Anderson Jacob Handel , and Dr. Paula Murphy Ives . …Mary-Ellen Anderson has over 30 years of experience developing innovative practices and strategic partnerships across varied sectors while leading teams at ALUS Canada and Microsoft. …A member of Pine Creek First Nation (Minegoziibe Anishinabe), Jacob Handel brings over two decades of experience working in Indigenous relations along with a wealth of knowledge in engaging with Indigenous people in the resource industries throughout North America . …Dr. Paula Murphy Ives has been working on issues related to social capital, strategic philanthropy, and impact investing for over a decade and has significant global experience in philanthropy, sustainability, and global governance. …Replacing Cockwell as Board Chair is Christine Leduc , who has had close ties with Forests Canada since she was an Ontario Envirothon Regional Champion in 2005.
Mary-Ellen Anderson, Jacob Handel, and Dr. Paula Murphy Ives
Christine Leduc
Canadian Forest Owners (CFO) reached out to the five federal political parties with current representation in parliament to ask how their party would support the thousands of rural communities across Canada where these forest owners live. Canadian Forest Owners represents 480,000 private forest owners from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island. These forest owners are largely family owned, small business, who own over a tenth of Canada’s managed forests, supporting every mill across the country, and accounting for nearly 20 percent of Canada’s total forest production. Private forest landowners provide solutions to climate change and real socio-economic development opportunities in rural communities from coast to coast. Here’s what they had to say…
President Trump’s shifting trade policies are creating uncertainty for the Canadian forestry industry. Sean McLaren, CEO of West Fraser Timber, says the potential inflationary effects of tariffs could weigh on future demand. “Looking forward, we see considerable macroeconomic uncertainty, particularly stemming from the US’s evolving tariff policies”. He said the company is planning for multiple scenarios. …RBC’s Matthew McKellar said that the outlook for the paper and forest products industry is highly uncertain when it comes to demand. “All of this uncertainty is bad for business,” said Derek Nighbor, CEO of Forest Products Association of Canada. Nighbor added that any impact on Canadian lumber companies will also affect pulp and paper: “We’ve got all of these downstream industries that depend on those inputs.” …McKellar noted that companies like West Fraser, Interfor and Canfor are geographically diverse, meaning potential softening of demand could be the bigger concern.
Major softwood producers with head offices in Canada say they have accounted for more than half of the growth in capacity in the US South over the past decade, highlighting their American investments as the Trump administration investigates lumber imports. The US South appeals to forestry companies because of the region’s abundant timber, the Canadian government said in a 57-page filing this month to the US Department of Commerce in a bid to avert potential tariffs. …In seeking to stave off tariffs, the Canadian government and several producers from Canada believe that the foray into the US South should be viewed as evidence of them being aligned with the Trump administration’s “America First” trade and investment agenda. …However, the U.S. Lumber Coalition is arguing that new tariffs are necessary. …Canadian producers are worried that if new lumber tariffs hit 25 per cent… total levies could reach nearly 60%. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
James Furney, mayor of Port McNeill, BC… is trying to stay upbeat, but his lumber town was already suffering before the threat of Trump’s trade war. …“To think that anyone is going to be insulated from what is going on with Trump would be delusional,” Furney said. “We are a forestry town and people around town are already watching their wallets and curtailing their spending, and businesses that should be ramping up now to hire summer students aren’t going to be hiring.” …In short, B.C. has plenty of wood and plenty of potential buyers for it, especially in the US, which was a $5.69-billion export market for the province in 2024, but not enough of that wood has been getting cut in recent years. That makes for gloomy days on the West Coast; a malaise that could spread to Ontario and Quebec and push the industry to the brink of collapse.
The BC Lumber Trade Council is warning that threatened US tariffs stacked on top of duties against Canadian softwood could lead to soaring costs for residential construction, including in American states seeking to rebuild after natural disasters. Hurricane Helene damaged or destroyed an estimated 73,000 homes in North Carolina last fall, and wildfires burned more than 15,000 structures in California in January, the BC council said in a submission this month to the US Department of Commerce. “Significant hurricane reconstruction efforts are also underway in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee,” the council’s 55-page filing says. The submission was a response to a March 1 executive order… which also threatened new lumber tariffs, cited Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, allowing him to connect the softwood file with national security. The probe into softwood and other wood products is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]
A coalition representing part of the US lumber industry is firing a shot at BC’s Forests Minister, who has suggested the State-side industry is not willing to engage. “
New support for forestry-sector manufacturers in the province is creating sustainable jobs, strengthening local supply chains, establishing new made-in-B.C. products and reinforcing B.C.’s position as a leader in mass-timber innovation. …Through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF), the Government of B.C. is contributing as much as $11 million toward four forestry-sector capital projects in the province. The projects are helping B.C.-based forestry-product manufacturers grow their businesses by constructing new production facilities, purchasing new equipment and adding new high-value product lines, while creating and protecting hundreds of jobs.
As of 2024 there are 2,500 sawmills in the U.S. and 850 in Canada. However, these numbers have to be looked at in context of housing starts in both countries. An interesting number: The rebuilding of 16,000 houses that burnt down in California require 4,300 fully loaded eight-axle trailer trucks with dimensioned lumber. We must be innovative and need more skilled workers. We should have a few smaller mills and/or machinery producing metric size timber for Europe and Japan. …We cannot change what is happening in the US, but despite an executive order from higher up, many mills in the US are suffering from a steady lack of timber supply and do not have the manpower or loggers required to steadily feed some of the mills. In Montana for example, 36 mills have closed over the last years because of a lack of timber supply, as well as a lack of loggers.
At the Council of Forest Industries convention, Premier David Eby underscored the provincial government’s commitment to forestry as a major project — and made it clear that forestry will be treated with the same focus and urgency, saying, “This is a shared project that we can get to that 45 million (cubic metre) target, which we all know is absolutely essential.” …Eby’s commitment to a “whole of government” approach is exactly what the sector needs. …We applaud Forest Minister Ravi Parmar’s recent announcements… Equally important is ensuring BCTS delivers its full potential. Consistently hitting 90 per cent or more of its annual harvest target is critical to a thriving wood products industry that supports communities and workers throughout the province. We also can’t lose sight of reconciliation. Increasing the distribution of stumpage fees to First Nations is one achievable step that would help advance shared prosperity and strengthen Indigenous participation in the sector.
An appeal contesting a 12-month notice period awarded to an operations specialist who had been recruited from a long-term, secure position 
By raising duties on Canadian lumber, the United States is contending that the producers benefit from unfair subsidies and sell products below market value. However, British Columbia Premier David Eby called it an “attack on forest workers and British Columbians” on April 5. …Harry Nelson, an associate professor of forestry at the University of British Columbia, said the increase stems from Washington’s annual review of its trade remedy findings. “The main reason for the significant increase is that both rates went up, the antidumping especially so.” …Nelson said some companies such as Canfor face a nearly 50 percent tariff and could be unsustainable. “Lumber margins tend to be small — certainly not 50 percent, and it is hard to imagine how Canfor will be able to continue to operate,” he said. “I would expect a curtailment in production, where higher-cost firms may either take temporary downtime or permanently shutter some more mills.”
When forestry contractor Mike Egli heard the sawmill in Vanderhoof was closing, he was expecting the worst. Egli co-owns logging contractor Dalchako Transport with his brothers. As with many local forestry companies, Dalchako’s livelihood was tied to the Plateau sawmill, Vanderhoof’s largest employer. With more than 200 workers, the sawmill was integral to the local economy. It closed at the end of December 2024. Egli has found other contracts to keep working since December, but the mill’s closure has caused a massive upheaval. “We lost all that work there,” he said. …Meanwhile, workers in Vanderhoof are looking to other industries to make a living. It’s a shift many northern B.C. workers have had to make before. …Not all workers are leaving the industry. Mayor Moutray said local forestry contractors are commuting 200 kilometres to Quesnel, B.C., for work, or flying into remote work camps to stay in forestry.
President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at a trade-war deescalation with China, as Wall Street hoped the US was preparing for an off-ramp from the weeks-long trade battle. “145% is too high, it will come down substantially,” Trump said of the level of tariffs on Chinese imports. He said he was optimistic about trade talks, adding that he plans to be “very nice” to China to reach a deal. Trump’s comments came after Bessent told investors in a closed-door summit Tuesday that he sees a deescalation in the US-China tariff situation, prompting a US stock rally on Tuesday that carried into Wednesday. Bessent called the tit-for-tat tariffs with China unsustainable, echoing the sentiments shared with Yahoo Finance last week that he was optimistic about “clarity” on tariffs. …China said it is open to trade talks with the US but struck a still-defiant tone.
Developer Greg Drobot hope to sell the houses they’re building in Coos Bay for around $400,000. …Keeping costs down means paying attention to the price for every detail. Drobot said instead of plywood, the project was going to use a less-expensive oriented strand board from Canada. “When the tariffs hit, it made it almost cost-prohibitive for us to use that,” Drobot said. …Tariffs are almost certain to put Oregon’s new home construction goal further out of reach. Imported 
As tariffs reshape supply chains, more Americans may be checking packaging for the “Made in USA” label, either to sidestep import taxes or to support domestic businesses. …According to the Federal Trade Commission, to qualify for the label, US authorities must determine that a product’s final assembly or processing has taken place in the US, and that a significant portion of its manufacturing costs must also be incurred domestically. …That said, some foreign components are allowed to still qualify as “Made in USA.” — as long as they don’t substantially transform the product. …However, bilateral trade agreements can override these rules. Under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a one-time importation of a commercial product valued under $2,500 is exempt from country of origin labeling requirements.
Once Oregon’s largest manufacturing industry, employment in the wood product manufacturing industry has gone through large, well-publicized losses since the early 1990s. Its employment has dropped below that of computer and electronic manufacturing and food manufacturing in recent years, but it remains the third largest manufacturing industry. Despite the losses, wood product manufacturing is still a large industry in Oregon and is especially important to rural areas of the state. Over the long term, between 1990 and 2020, annual average employment in wood product manufacturing dropped 24,100, or 52%. Similar losses were experienced in all its subsectors. Sawmills and wood preservation dropped 5,900 (49%); plywood and engineered wood products dropped 9,500 (53%). …Even with the long-term decline, wood product manufacturing is still a large industry in Oregon. In 2024, there were 22,400 jobs and roughly $1.5 billion in total payroll in the industry. 
Tariffs could impact efforts to rebuild a former paper mill in Jay that was destroyed in an explosion almost five years ago. Godfrey Wood Products is looking to build a new factory on the property that would manufacture oriented strand board, a type of structural wood paneling. The company says that they have all of the permits they need, but they haven’t been able to move forward with construction because of uncertainty with tariffs. A lot of the equipment they need would come from Europe. “The stated goal of all of this tariff business is to, incentivize domestic manufacturing. Well, hell, I’m trying my level best to become a domestic manufacturer of OSB in Jay, Maine, and it seems like the public policy of the country is trying to thwart that,” said John Godfrey, owner of Godfrey Wood Products.
London—President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff policy and countermeasures by America’s trading partners will likely deal a heavy blow to economies worldwide, with US prosperity hit particularly hard, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday. Global economic growth will slow to 2.8% this year, from 3.3% last year and significantly below the historical average, the IMF forecast in its World Economic Outlook. The slowdown expected in the United States is even steeper, with its economy likely to grow only 1.8% in 2025, compared with a 2.8% expansion in 2024. Both predictions are more pessimistic than the fund’s January projections, which came before Trump’s flurry of tariff announcements took America’s average import tax to its highest level in a century. …North America, just like all regions, can’t expect any upside from the tariffs further down the line. “The long-term impact of the tariffs, if they are maintained, (will be) negative for all regions, just like the short-term impacts,” Gourinchas said.
